I thought of this idea a while ago. Simular things have probably been done before, but I thought I'd just ask people's opinions and think about writing it anyway.

So, it's set in an alternate universe where everybody in the same age group and gender look the same, dress the same, ect, but all the people have the ability to recognise who is who. My main character believes what people are told about everyone looking and being the same, like everybody else seems to. However, there are alterations in her appearance which makes her different from everyone else around her - she didn't know this was possible. It will probably be due to some unheard of (by most) disease where a persons appearance mutates to make them different - or maybe something else, but this is the idea I have now. She will get killed if she gets found because she would stop everybody from looking the same, which isn't what society wants, and her parents know they will be killed if they keep her and hide her, so they kick her out and she has to run away. She discovers that people in the world aren't all the same and that society has been lying to her. As she runs away, a group of people find her and take her in. This group of people live in an underground or hidden society because they are all different; either for reasons they can't help or their own personality choice. They function as a society just like a town. I have an idea that one of the main people in that group will be a very funny character with various piercings, blue or turquoise hair and a mohican and she will be one of leaders or something. I'm not sure of other things that would happen next, but the group would have to hide to not get caught and found by the goverment, and some people in the group may have to fight. I think this story would also, in a way, sort of promote tolerance and acceptance of others and people who are different...

My answer to your question before I even read the post was "You'll never know until you write it" and I stand by that statement even now that I know what your idea is. Some of the world's best ideas seemed ridiculous, silly, strange, odd, lame, stupid, any other negative adjective imaginable at the time. Earth moves around the sun? Gravity? Dr. Seuss? Harry Potter? Sliced bread? You never know what'll have brilliance potential.

In terms of the answer you wanted, though, after applying years of reading and writing knowledge, I can tell you that there's almost always room for another story on tolerance and acceptances of differences. Running and hiding from the government and possibly fighting back are almost always fun and make for enjoyable reads. Rebellion in the name of idealistic causes is good stuff. Hold onto that kernel, that core. That's the true nature of your idea, that's where your passion is, and that's the story you need to tell.

The various surface features of your idea leave me a bit wary, though. Ever read The Uglies by Scott Westerfield? I haven't, but I know enough about it to spot similarities. Not to mention, with the popularity of The Hunger Games trilogy at the moment, dystopia and rebellion and such are trending. Which may seem good, because it means people are eager for more, but riding waves isn't nearly as powerful (or as much fun) as potentially making them.

And that's why I say to hold onto the kernel of the idea. Look past the surface things that you're grabbing at just because they seem cool and write the story you really want to tell, not the one you think you want to tell. Don't think in terms of what popular books/your favorite books have and haven't done but rather what you know deep down. That's how you get to masterpiece material, and that's how you move people.

The best way to find out what that idea is? Start writing away, whatever occurs to you, and before long the second-source creativity and borrowed imagination will fall away and you'll find the genius.

It's a utopian society where everyone is controlled to think the same and have set jobs that are inherited. Basically a society where people's lives are all planned out. One of the things that people are forbidden to do is to experiment and create new things.

One person accidentally creates something and this spark makes them want to change as they realise how bad their society is.

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This doesn't mean you can't write your version. I like the sound of it, and it'd be interesting to see how you handle the scenarios and write the characters.